Times of India: Ahmedabad: Thursday, January 04, 2018.
The state
revenue department has issued warnings to 20 district collectors, asking them
to collect the fines imposed on 65 public information officers by the Gujarat
Information Commission for denying or delaying information sought under the
Right To Information (RTI) by citizens in 2017. The fines were imposed after
hearings by the appellate authorities.
The revenue
department wrote to the collectors of Ahmedabad, Amreli, Anand, Kutch, Kheda,
Gandhinagar, Chota Udaipur, Dahod, Navsari, Dev Bhoomi Dwarka, Panchmahal,
Bharuch, Mehsana, Morbi, Rajkot, Sabarkantha, Surat, Vadodara and Arvalli. The
reminders were shot off on January 1.
According to
sources, the general administration department (GAD) on of November 9, sent a
reminder to the principal secretary of the revenue department stating that in a
letter dated October 11, 2017, the chief information commission had told the
government that after deciding on the appeal in about 65 cases, the public
information officers were fined for not complying with the RTI Act.
The letter
states that though the information officers and their superiors were informed
of the fines, the money has not been deposited by them.
After the
GAD's letter, the revenue department woke up and shot letter to the district
collectors reminding them about the unpaid fines. The revenue department's
letter says that the office of the information commissioner should be sent the
copy of the fine counterfoil.
R H Bhabhor,
the under secretary of the revenue department, confirmed that the letters were
sent to these district collectors for recovery of the fines.
"Though
most public information officers have paid their fines, recovery from 65
officers is pending and will done at the earliest," Bhabhor said.
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